First of All, I’m Drinking - Chapter 64

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 64

 

“We should probably eat something first.”

 

It was Irin who brought up the topic.

 

Looking at the clock, nearly 7 hours had passed since the exam began.

 

“I want to rest.”

 

Irin even let out a big yawn.

 

I agreed with her that we needed a break.

 

This exam was a long-term race lasting a total of 3 days.

 

Managing our condition was extremely important.

 

“Let’s find a spot first, then.”

 

I looked around the area.

 

I wondered if there was really a need to leave this location.

 

It wasn’t like the Lair of the Flame Venom Scorpion King with flowing lava, and large rocks were distributed here and there, making it good for hiding.

 

“How about behind that rock over there?”

 

I pointed my finger at a rock of suitable size.

 

Irin showed her agreement halfheartedly as if annoyed, then scurried over.

 

I turned to look at Tanya.

 

“What are you going to do?”

 

Tanya pondered for a moment before speaking.

 

“I’ll part ways here.”

 

“Alright then.”

 

I respected Tanya’s decision.

 

In truth, there was nothing for her to gain by staying with us.

 

As long as she didn’t overdo it like before, she could pass on her own just fine.

 

“Take care.”

 

“….”

 

I waved my hand at Tanya.

 

Tanya stared at me intently for a moment, then turned around and ran outside.

 

I moved behind the rock where Irin was hiding.

 

Irin had already taken food and water from her bag and was setting them up on the ground.

 

Rip.

 

Irin roughly tore open the package containing the rations.

 

“I guess you just add water and wait for it to cook itself.”

 

Irin poured water into the package.

 

Soon the package warmed up and a savory, appetizing smell began to waft up.

 

It seemed to be some kind of military combat ration.

 

‘This looks edible.’

 

I had imagined dried foods like bread or jerky when they said they’d provide rations, but this was quite a substantial meal.

 

I also tore open a package and poured water in, just like Irin.

 

The menu was fried rice topped with sausage and hamburger steak.

 

Gulp, I swallowed my saliva.

 

“Oh, this is pretty good?”

 

Irin commented as she took a spoonful of rice.

 

She asked me as if seeking agreement.

 

“Hey, you should try it too. This is pretty decent….”

 

Chomp chomp!

 

Of course, I was already eagerly devouring my food before Irin even suggested it.

 

Irin looked at me with contempt as if she’d seen a cockroach.

 

“…You have such a pretty face but you eat so heartily.”

 

Her tone was closer to criticism than praise.

 

“Did you starve for days or something? No one’s going to take it away, so eat slowly.”

 

“Oh, right. Ahem! Ah, this is better than I expected.”

 

I devoured the single serving of combat rations in the blink of an eye.

 

* * *

 

Tanya de Belyaev descended to the deep lower floors of the labyrinth.

 

She didn’t know the exact location of the White Horse soaring through the sky, but through House of Belyaev’s intelligence network, she knew it was on Basement Floor 2.

 

The same went for the other monsters.

 

‘The Flame Poison Scorpion King is on Ground Floor, the Blood Giant Ogre is on Basement 4, and the rest are on Basement Level 5.’

 

However, she ruled out the Flame Poison Scorpion King.

 

Because she had heard the conversation between 3rd and 5th place.

 

-When you fought me earlier in the scorpion’s nest, you didn’t even move while all four of your party members got cut down.

 

If that was true, they must have already fought once at the Flame Poison Scorpion King’s lair.

 

She couldn’t predict the nature of the battle, but the fact that neither of them was eliminated revealed one clear truth.

 

The Flame Poison Scorpion King had already been defeated.

 

Then where she should head was….

 

‘It would be better to search Basement 4 first.’

 

Hints about the monsters’ locations were scattered throughout the floors where those monsters dwelled.

 

The same was true for the White Horse soaring through the sky.

 

Roughly thinking, it might seem advantageous to search Basement Level 5 first since there were two entities there.

 

But one of them was the ‘Azure Abyss Imugi,’ which had been defeated only a handful of times over hundreds of years.

 

Tanya had no intention of being foolish enough to attempt defeating that creature.

 

That’s why she would search the nearby Basement 4 first.

 

‘…Maybe I should have just stayed with them?’

 

1st preliminary exam 3rd place, Irin Kramer.

 

And 5th place, Asel.

 

The images of those two kept circling in her mind.

 

Especially Asel’s image.

 

‘There’s no way someone like that is 5th place. He’s definitely hiding his strength.’

 

The skill of throwing a longsword like a boomerang to behead a monster floating in mid-air.

 

That alone was amazing, but what Tanya focused on was Asel’s attitude.

 

Even after accomplishing something incredible, he showed not a trace of surprise or pride.

 

His demeanor suggested this was natural for him, filled with confidence in himself.

 

Tanya instinctively knew that overwhelming skill was hidden beneath that facade.

 

‘Perhaps the most troublesome opponent in this exam site isn’t Ragnor, but that man.’

 

Indeed, parting ways with them had been the right choice.

 

They say the human heart is like a reed.

 

Tanya wasn’t confident she could defend herself if Asel suddenly changed his mind and tried to attack her.

 

‘If I can defeat the Blood Giant Ogre too, I’ll be in the safe zone for passing.’

 

Tanya moved to Basement 4 and diligently searched for clues containing the creature’s location.

 

That’s when it happened.

 

“Kyaaaah!”

 

Suddenly, a scream that tore through the air reached Tanya’s ears.

 

It wasn’t far away.

 

Soon, the sounds of weapons clashing could be heard intermittently.

 

Examinees were definitely fighting each other.

 

And quite a large number of them at that.

 

The corners of Tanya’s mouth turned up.

 

“What a windfall.”

 

Tanya had absolute confidence in her abilities.

 

Judging by the scale of the battle, she could easily gain several hundred points.

 

Thwack!

 

Tanya increased her speed and ran toward the source of the sound.

 

The moment her destination gradually drew closer.

 

Suddenly, a chilling killing intent swept over Tanya’s entire body.

 

‘No way…’

 

An ominous premonition ran up her spine.

 

But it was already too late to turn back.

 

“…Hmm?”

 

The battle had just ended, and only one person remained standing.

 

A curly-haired, white-haired man.

 

The man’s clear ash-gray eyes fixed on Tanya.

 

His eyes curved as if he had discovered an interesting toy.

 

“Aren’t you the one who ranked 2nd in the first examination? Your name was… what was it. Sorry, I can’t remember.”

 

The moment Tanya faced the man, she instinctively realized.

 

That with her current abilities, she couldn’t win even if she died and came back to life.

 

“Someone of your level might be able to cross swords with me enjoyably, don’t you think?”

 

Ding!

 

A notification rang from the man’s wrist.

 

The score calculated from the battle that had just ended was being updated.

 

Tanya’s gaze unconsciously turned toward the man’s artifact.

 

[No. 2,380 Ragnor von Grantuan: 18,200 points (Currently 1st place)]

 

At that abnormally high score, Tanya’s mind went blank.

 

‘Eighteen thousand points…?’

 

Just a few hours ago, she had heard that 1st place belonged to Irin.

 

In that short time, he had reclaimed the ranking, and the point difference had widened to an extent that was normally impossible to catch up to.

 

Naturally, she came to realize one fact.

 

The boss monster dwelling on Basement Level 5.

 

The ‘Azure Abyss Imugi,’ which had been defeated only a handful of times in history.

 

Had already been crushed to nothing by that man’s hands.

 

Moreover, that wasn’t enough – another boss-level monster located in the depths and countless examinees as well.

 

Had all been defeated by Ragnor and converted into points.

 

Her subsequent judgment was swift.

 

Dash-!

 

Tanya turned around and began fleeing without hesitation.

 

She couldn’t win in a direct confrontation.

 

Even if she attacked with her specialty of surprise attacks, the result would be the same.

 

Her only remaining option was escape.

 

“Running away… how boring.”

 

Whoosh-!

 

A damp, humid, instinctive fear struck her.

 

It was the sensation of being chased by a predator as prey.

 

She could tell without looking back.

 

That Ragnor was pursuing her.

 

‘Please…’

 

First examination.

 

1st place with 4.8 million points.

 

Main examination.

 

Currently 1st place with 18,000 points.

 

At that level, wasn’t his very existence cheating?

 

It was incomprehensible itself, something her common sense couldn’t accept.

 

‘Could that man handle Ragnor?’

 

She didn’t know.

 

The Ragnor von Grantuan she had seen directly was a monster that far transcended common sense.

 

But if she wanted to calculate even the minimum possibility of her own survival.

 

Making that man and Ragnor face each other was the best option.

 

Fortunately, she remembered the way up to Basement Floor 2.

 

Tanya ran with all her might toward the location where the White Horse that swam through the sky had been.

 

‘With my speed!’

 

Even if she would be overwhelmed in a direct power struggle.

 

At least when it came to just running away, it should be sufficiently possible.

 

* * *

 

“I need a place to sleep too.”

 

After solving the meal issue, the remaining task was getting a good night’s sleep.

 

Of course, if I put my mind to it, I could endure about 3 days without sleeping.

 

However, it was obvious that sufficient sleep would be advantageous for condition management.

 

“Yaaawn, let’s just sleep here.”

 

Irin, who was yawning so widely her uvula was visible, looked very reluctant to move even briefly.

 

Actually, this place wasn’t bad for taking a rest, surprisingly.

 

Most people would see the corpse of the giant horse with its head severed upon entering and think they’d struck out before leaving, so there wouldn’t be anyone who would bother searching behind the rock.

 

I rummaged through my backpack.

 

It contained a mat and one thin blanket.

 

“Hey, use this.”

 

I handed the bedding to Irin.

 

“Huh? Aren’t you going to sleep?”

 

“Let’s sleep in shifts. You sleep first.”

 

“Ah, you want to take turns keeping watch? Good. But what if I put a blade to your throat while you’re sleeping?”

 

“Try it if you can.”

 

No matter how deeply I slept, I would wake up quickly even to the slightest hostility.

 

It was a habit that had stuck to my body since the Demon Realm.

 

“…I’ll just sleep quietly.”

 

Irin turned her back and lay down on the mat.

 

Soon, the sound of steady breathing could be heard.

 

She must have been very tired. Seeing how she fell asleep as soon as she lay down.

 

How many minutes had passed like that?

 

Jolt-!

 

“Oh my!”

 

Irin, who had been sleeping soundly, suddenly sat up without any warning.

 

I could guess the reason too.

 

“Someone’s coming?”

 

That was exactly right.

 

Someone was approaching from the entrance, emanating raw hostility.

 

It wasn’t just one person.

 

“Looks like someone’s being chased.”

 

Thud thud thud thud-

 

From the urgent footsteps, you could feel how desperately the fugitive had come here.

 

The hostility was flowing from the pursuer.

 

I peeked my face out from beside the rock to check the appearance of our visitors.

 

‘Tanya?’

 

Surprisingly, the one being chased was Tanya.

 

The person pursuing Tanya from behind was a white-haired man I’d never seen before.

 

His facial features looked strangely familiar.

 

It was the face from the materials Bael had shown me.

 

Ragnor von Grantuan, that had to be him.

 

‘Damn.’

 

This was a disaster.

 

Tanya knew exactly where we were hiding.

 

She had seen Irin moving to a new position before leaving.

 

Sure enough.

 

Tanya was desperately running toward the rock where we were hiding.

 

“Help me! Asel!”

 

And she was even calling out my name correctly.

 

“Damn it.”

 

There were no more options left.

 

We’d be discovered eventually even if we stayed hidden.

 

I kicked off the ground and leaped out, clashing my sword against Ragnor’s.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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